Perfect for fans of:
- The Half of It on Netflix
- Love triangles but make them bisexual
“His smile goes sad. “Not every relationship works out. Not every one should. But that doesn’t mean every connection is destined to hurt you. Sure, some of them might, but isn’t it worth a little hurt to find the ones that make you happy?”
Love Somebody follows Sam Dickson, an ambitious actress who just directed, wrote, and starred in her semi-autobiographical play. When that play gets an abysmal review by none other than Ros, the smartest girl in school, Sam is devastated. The thing that complicates it even more? Her ex-boyfriend-turned-best-friend Christian falls head over heels for Ros. Having trouble communicating his feelings—which was the reason Sam and Christian broke up in the first place—Christian doesn’t know how to make Ros see he’s more than just a jock. Sam, still smarting from the review and seeing a way to get back at Ros, agrees to coach Christian from the sidelines—and unexpectedly ends up falling for Ros in the process.
Truth be told, I had quite a hard time getting into this book at first. It’s always difficult for me to get invested in ships when insta-love happens within the first chapter and it’s literally “I know nothing about you yet I’m unequivocally in love with you”—insta-attraction is fine, insta-love declarations are something else entirely. Once I put my big-girl pants on, though, and realised that Christian actually wanted to get to know Ros, I had a good time with Love Somebody. Roasek has an easy writing style that flows quite well and makes pages fly by.
I loved that we get the POVs from all three protagonists in the book. Each of the characters has their own cross to bear—Christian has a hard time communicating his feelings, Sam is dealing with personal baggage and the fear that people will see behind the façade she’s presenting to everyone, and Ros is hesitant to trust anyone for fear of getting her heart broken. The more you get to know the characters, the more you realise that their issues come from traumatic experiences in their past or from having learnt their lessons when things went wrong before. I quite enjoyed switching back and forth between them, especially as the scheming picked up.
Speaking of scheming, fans of early 2000s teen movies might want to put this book on their TBR because Love Somebody totally gave me the same vibes! It’s quite fun watching Sam “direct” the romance between Ros and Christian and being his coach as he tries to woo Ros—with some initially abysmal, but later on great results. There’s loads of face-palm moments when conversations derail or Christian repeats the wrong thing which had me in stitches. However, I also loved the moments when he “went off script” and you could see Ros realise how much more there is to the darling of the high school soccer team.
By far my favourite part of the entire book was Christian’s character arc. Christian is the definition of a cinnamon roll and he’s definitely not had an easy life so far, even if he pretends nothing affects him. As the chapters progress, the reader learns about Christian’s home life and his brother who left for some very valid reasons. I found myself aching to learn more about Christian’s family and the circumstances that led to Christian’s brother disappearing. That story arc, in my opinion, truly showed how great Roasek is at eliciting emotions from her readers.
The climax of the story is as dramatic as you’d imagine with a bisexual love triangle. There’s a lot of hurt, mistakes and regret and I’m anxious to see how readers will react to the resolution of it all because it’s been weeks since I’ve read the book and I’m still undecided. Nevertheless, this debut makes me excited for more of Roasek’s writing in the future!
Following an ambitious actress, the darling of the high school soccer team and an ice queen, Love Somebody is a fast-paced rom-com, perfect for fans of love triangles with a twist and The Half of It!
Love Somebody is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of January 11th 2022.
Will you be picking up Love Somebody? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A sparkling YA debut rom-com about a popular high-school girl, her ex-boyfriend-turned-best-friend, and the girl they both fall for—perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli or Casey McQuiston.
Sam Dickson is a charismatic actress, ambitious and popular with big plans for her future. Ros Shew is one of the smartest people in school—but she’s a loner, and prefers to keep it that way. Then there’s Christian Powell, the darling of the high school soccer team. He’s not the best with communication, which is why he and Sam broke up after dating for six months; but he makes up for it by being genuine, effusive, and kind, which is why they’re still best friends.
When Christian falls for Ros on first sight, their first interaction is a disaster, so he enlists Sam’s help to get through to her. Sam, with motives of her own, agrees to coach Christian from the sidelines on how to soften Ros’s notorious walls. But as Ros starts to suspect Christian is acting differently, and Sam starts to realize the complexity of her own feelings, their fragile relationships threaten to fall apart.
This fresh romantic comedy from debut author Rachel Roasek is a heartfelt story about falling in love—with a partner, with your friends, or just with yourself—and about how maybe, the bravest thing to do in the face of change is just love somebody.
